Thursday, September 8, 2011

Way back in May I always had a nice time going to that place called "Thanasis" Sister" in the harbour of Pythagorion.Here are some impressions of May 13th, 2011, the first day with live music for the season 2011 in that kafenion-ouzeri.

Also the first day for guitarist Alexis on the island for the season 2011.We had a great day, lots of good things to eat and drink, and Alexis - after playing for many many hours - almost fell asleep at the end of the night while playing guitar.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Some of the bar owners of Samos have finally discovered the internet and social media platforms and now are trying to promote their businesses via those so-called social media. Nothing wrong about that!

But some do a bit too much. And try to send tailormade fairytales to the internet community/social media platforms. Unfortunately - I have to say this because I like Pythagorion and the port a lot - one prominent example is the "Corner Bar" in Pythagorion!

With "interviews" posted on YouTube by "seomaster" and "reports" on blogs they want to create some sort of virtual reality. Sort of: "Dreams are my reality"! Which has very little in common with the reality in the port of Pythagorion!

Watch this video by "seomaster" on YouTube: "Top Bars in Samos? | Corner-Bar in Pythagorion | An Unbiased Interview from Samos tourists"

Maybe you will notice the same like I do:Music is from Romania, the interior of the bar looks like it could be anywhere in Spain, South France, Italy, Turkey, the couple is from Norway, the interviewer talks in english .....

Are you sure, that place is in Greece? Why? Due to what fact? Any hints there?

What is left here of Greece and greek culture in a bar in the port of Pythagorio? I say: nothing! Can you identify anything greek at all? Please check by watching this video again!

Maybe you start to think about the reason why you wanted to go for holidays to Greece? Is it true, because you feel at home in all those places, that look all perfectly alike all over the international tourism sphere?

My opinion: 1.) the greek feeling & the greek heritage of the port of Pythagorion have been massively and effectively destroyed by these types of bars along the waterfront. Maybe the atmosphere was o.k. 20-30 years ago. But is is a tragedy nowadays!2.) The bars all look the same. If you are slightly drunk, you cannot tell anymore one from the other ....3.) Over the years of tourism in Pythagorion, many of the original trees in the harbour in front of the houses have been cut off or were felled to enable the spreading of this monocultures of streamlined cocktail and beer consumption temples.4.) the young norwegian couple has been abused for a pure commercial!

You will find mostly scandinavian or dutch tourists there! Almost no greek people sitting there. Greek Alpha or Mythos beer? Come on, you are in Greece-for-tourists! You better ask for the higher priced Heineken or Amstel beer in bottles to fully enjoy your evening in Greece!

Local people avoid these bars in the port! Why?

btw: if you are looking for the "best supermarket on Samos island", any guess where it is? The genius "seomaster" found it out again! In Pythagorion of course! And posted a video about it on YouTube! Lol!

-----------------------------------------------------supplement 13.09.2011The marketing hero with a thousand faces has struck again!"Where is Samos" & "SamosExclusive", videos on YouTube consuming a lot of lifetime of viewers, promising a lot (e.g. "Almost all Top Places to check out and Activities to Make") without offering anything but hot steam! (Vaporware!)

Monday, August 8, 2011

Since some weeks, the singer/guitarist and entertainer Dimos Kassapidis plays every sunday night on the square of Kokkari. The tourists there seem to like the kind of music and the square is filled with dancers in the night.

Videos from several YouTube users have been uploaded:

these ones are from hot July 2011:

this one, taken by me, is dating back to the more relaxed June 2011:

From the first night on, the bar and tavern owners stood there with incredulous amazement in their faces, not believing what was going on there. Something they had not experienced for many many years in Kokkari, as they said.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

I have been to Balos bay and the long beach in the south of Samos with the tremendous view to Mount Kerkis many many times.Always another reason to come to Balos is to visit one of the nice taverns, e.g. Akrogiali, Esperos and Stella there!

The tavern "Stella" I visited this May and June several times! This special place that offers cypriot food too! It is run by the family Antoniou. The photo below shows Stella and her husband Nikos.

If you come down the road to Balos, you need to turn to the right at the sea front. Signs will guide you on your way.

Stella's place is not located on the road along the beach front like all the other taverns, but a little bit behind, it takes a short walk on a footpath to get to the "secret place", the house in a garden with old olive trees.

The son, Kyriakos, who takes care of the business, besides greek is fluently speaking english and german. Lots of good tasting things from organic farming and from the big ofen in the garden are on the menu! "Lecker, lecker", as we germans say!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

The company "sky express" from Crete offers a fast connection for travellers wishing to hop from Samos to Ikaria or vice versa. The flight will take only 15 minutes, this service is offered e.g. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12:30 from Samos (high season 2011). Airplanes are 19-30 seat British Aerospace Jetstreams.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Samos in May, what a joy! Everywhere it's green and beautiful! The grasses are high and still green. Flowers are blooming in many colours, like here on the castle hill in Pythagorion.

A combination of several videoclips - mainly with focus on red Poppys - that I took in (early) May 2011 on the east aegean island of Samos in Greece.Music performed by musicians from Samos: Jiannis Loulourgas (bouzouki, vocals) and Kostas Mitsos (guitar) from the village of Pythagorion.

Want to be there, between olive trees in a meadow covered with Poppys? Try this one here:

Flowers blooming in many colours close to the Logothétis castle in Pythagorion:

Blue sky, white clouds, yellow flowering broom (Sparta), everywhere beautiful green landscape .... , middle of May 2011. This year, vegetation was almost three weeks behind "normal schedule" due to cool weather in April and first half of May.

Red poppies on the side of the road leading to the monastery Timiou Stavrou, May 2011.

Landscape below Vourliotes on the north coast, end of May 2011.

When the broom (Sparta) starts to bloom, the landscape turns yellow on Samos:

Monday, July 18, 2011

The Samos Young Artists Festival 2011 will take place in the Ancient Theatre of Pythagorion from August 9th to August 14th. The concerts will start daily at 8 pm. Tickets are available at the box office for 5 Euros (1000 seats available).

As stated furthermore on the website of the festival:

It offers highly gifted young musicians an opportunity to perform. The annual festival week takes place on the Greek island of Samos as part of the Ireon Music Festival in August.The picturesque Greek island of Samos, with its beauty, its geographic location between Orient and Occident and its changeful history, creates the perfect backdrop for the Samos Young Artists Festival.

It is the intention of the Festival's initiators to bring young artists and an interested concert audience to the island, and for this special place to become the focal point of interest each year.

The musicians, who are chosen in cooperation with various notable international institutions and festivals, demonstrate their talent in the ancient theater of the picturesque port city Pythagorion. For five nights they play a distinguished chamber music program, which they choose themselves.

The festival was founded on the private initiative of a German-Greek family in 2010. The concerts are financed exclusively through private contributions and are actively supported by local organizations and institutions, especially by the cultural association and the mayor of Pythagorion.

On May 27th, 2011, I happened to be in the area of Kokkari on the north coast of Samos island, and spent some time in Cavos Café-Bar, enjoying Uli's german cake with coffee, when a rain storm came to the harbour in late afternoon.The most dramatic scenes I couldn't take, because first I had to rescue my equipment from the incredible masses of water pouring down.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Hot Greece and bare aegean islands without any trees? Well, not on Samos island!

You want to find out yourself?There a quite few places on the island where a brook is running under shady trees. For example: pay a visit to the incredibly green, shady and cool Potami valley with the Potami brook and several cascades/small waterfalls, not far away from the city of Karlóvasi on the north coast of the island.

Walking on the footpath along the brook gives you almost the feeling like you're walking in some type of dschungle!Whenever I go there, I am always fascinated by the brook running between these strangely formed trees.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

A video about the greek luthier, singer and bouzouki player Jiannis Loulourgas from Pythagorion. He is talking about his shop "Pythagorios", his "Samos Bouzouki School", and demonstrates different greek stringed instruments like Bouzouki, Baglamas and Tsouras.

In the season 2011 he plays together with guitarist Alexis Papos in a place run by his family called "Thanasis' Sister" in the harbour of Pythagorion. Several songs are included in the video, recorded "live" in May 2011, capturing the atmosphere of this charming place on the harbour promenade, just a couple of meters away from the waters of the aegean sea and anchoring sailing boats.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Middle of June we made a tour from noisy Pythagorion to the calm and silent west of Samos island, going down to the coast to visit Varsamos beach.Nobody else but us was there, the tavern there seems to be closed.

On the way back, a spontaneous stopover in a small tavern in Kallithea around sunset - to record a song video - developed into a gathering with local people and singing a couple of songs together.Many thanks to the men and women of Kallithea involved in the "party" for the Ouzo and Souma!

About Me

What's this blog all about?

Hello, welcome to my blog!

This website is about the greek island of Samos in the east aegean sea. It contains lots of my photos and some videos & music. Together with my personal impressions of people, landscapes and events I encountered on Samos.

Use of content of my blog (text, photos, videos, audio) only with prior written permission! Please don't misuse my photos and videos by removing copyright hints (even if you are affected by the greek crisis!)

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